Contesting paternity by the biological father in German law

Bibliogr. s. 173-174

The paper examines issues related to the right of a biological but non-legal father to contest legal paternity under German law (§ 1600 BGB). The analysis involves considerations regarding the mutual relations among various forms of fatherhood and the relation of each to children and other family members. Special attention is paid to differences in requirements that have to be met in order to contest fatherhood between biological and legal fathers, time limits for contestation, the meaning of the term "social and family relationship", and the phenomenon of double social fatherhood. The constitutionality of the German regulations and their conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights are also discussed. The paper evaluates the German approach to these issues from a teleological and systematic point of view and assesses its suitability for use in Polish family law. The analysis is conducted from the perspective of conflicting legally protected interests, in particular the right to know one's own identity, visitation rights, family protection, child maintenance, parental responsibility, fathers' rights and the best interest of the child.